Zelda looked anxiously at the map of the school and the schedule she had in her hand. It seemed that her next class was in the Music room next to staircase #9. 'Damn,' she thought, as she desperately looked around for a sign of help. "Excuse me," a voice came from behind her. Zelda turned and saw the red head whom she was sitting close to during class. "Hi," she said.

The red head replied with a "hi" and seemed to jump from where she stood. "You didn't get to say much during class," she answered and playfully flicked a strand of red hair from her cheek, "I'm Malon. Did you need help finding your way?" Zelda nodded enthusiastically and Malon reached for her schedule. "Let's see," she pondered, "Oh, you have Ms. Nayru! She's really nice, but her class is far away."

Malon tucked the slip of paper in her hand and grabbed Zelda's arm. "Come on," she said and pulled, "I'll take you there and show you around. My class isn't far from there, it's right across." Zelda smiled at her warm, bouncy nature and followed her through the halls. "So," Malon began as they cut through the campus outside, "Where are you from?" Zelda shouldered her book bag and answered, "I've been around. My dad owns a small company, so I've been just about everywhere."

Malon's bright blue eyes glowed. "Your dad owns a company?" she said in awe, "You must be super rich!" Zelda shook her head and smiled. "It's not that great," she replied, 'I've never stayed at one place for more than half a year. But he sold his company last year, and we decided to move back here to our hometown for good." "That's good," the red head exclaimed, "It's awful trying to start over again. School's one thing, but friends are a complete mess. Not to mention any boyfriends." She trailed off enthusiastically.

"No," Zelda answered, "Not enough time for that." Malon scoffed and gestured to the school. "Well here, we've got plenty of 'em to choose from," she said openly, "And after I've shown you around, you won't ever want to leave." She gave her a sideways glance and a suggestive smile. Zelda chuckled and they entered the other end of school.

While they were crossing the vast hallway, Malon tugged her arm and pointed to a few students. "That's Rebecca," she said towards a girl in the center of a small crowd, "She's okay if you're a cheerleader or someone she can take advantage of, but she avoids the nerd and the individualist crowds as much as possible." Rebecca caught sight of Malon and waved, a brilliant white smile shining while her teeth chewed on gum. "Malon! See you in practice!"

Malon waved back at her and a few other girls who called out after her. Zelda turned to her when they were away and said, "You're a cheerleader?" Malon nodded brightly. "Yeah," she answered, then turned and gave Zelda an examining look, "Do you want to join us?" Zelda stuttered uneasily, "Well, I'm not very sure." The red head burst out in laughter. "Don't worry," she chortled, "It's not a cult or anything. Don't take every cheerleader for Rebecca, we're not all like that. I only avoid the nerds, because they scare me." She spied someone and nudged Zelda into a crowd of students. They casually passed by a young man in a white shirt and a tie, who checked his watch and sighed exasperatedly as he made his way through the hall with a briefcase.

"What's wrong?" Zelda asked amusedly at Malon's expression, "Old boyfriend?" The girl's face flushed in a bright red against her hair and retorted, "Boyfriend?! That, girl, was a major nerd. I put huge warning signs around him." "What's his name?" "Steve Whitner," Malon replied with a shudder, "The boy's cute, but he's too self centered and nerdy. You won't get noticed by him unless you were disguised as a computer."

Malon continued to point and direct others. She was obviously very friendly and popular among many people, for most of them waved or acknowledged her happily. Before Zelda knew it, they were in front of a door with a gold plate engraved, "Music, Ms. Nayru." Malon sighed and said sadly, "Darn, I didn't get to show you any of the cute guys around. And-oh, here!" She thrust Zelda's schedule back in her hand.

"Thanks a lot, Malon," Zelda said gratefully. "I'm not done yet!" Malon replied, "You and I still have History, Gymn, and lunch together! I'll take you to your Math class after music, okay?" The blonde blinked in surprise. "You memorized my schedule?" she asked. Malon smiled secretly and waved as she entered her classroom. Zelda grinned after the red head and entered the music room.

"Ah," said a young woman with a warm smile, "You must be Zelda. Please, sit wherever you feel comfortable." Zelda nodded and took her seat next to a haughty looking girl who seemed to be examining her through liquid blue eyes. Ms. Nayru stood in front of the class and looked at each student. "Zelda will be our new student, I want you all to welcome her and make her feel comfortable," she said, "Now, to brush up on events. The performance this spring would be a musical, and auditions are available for solo and lead parts."

A few eager students clapped in approval. The girl sitting next to Zelda sat straight in her chair, her small chin pointed up and a light smile on her face. Ms. Nayru continued, "The leads in the play would require singers with a good voice intonation and can produce enough sound to be heard. Soloists are not expected to involve in any exhausting movement, but pitch and clarity is unquestionably expected. The music would be originally composed by me and any other student who wishes to provide a score for the enormous list of songs. So," she said with a gleam in her calm, dark blue eyes, "Is there anyone daring?"

Zelda felt a hand shoot itself up into the air, and she looked at the girl next to her sit in the edge of her seat. However, Ms. Nayru called on a boy in the back row. "Yes, Ian?" "What's the play about?" he asked. "The play," she replied, "is somewhat of an original my sister Ms. Din came up with when she had too much caffeine in the morning." A laugh scattered around the room. Ms. Nayru smiled and went on, "It is like a Sleeping Beauty with a Sword in the Stone twist, and much more exciting and thought out than any Disney company could think up. It involves a princess being cursed by a powerful sorceress, a conspiracy between two kingdoms regarding the princess's country, and a young brave hero destined to have unleashed the power of a sacred blade held protected by a temple. I believe there is a lot more to that, and you'll only find out more if you see the play three months later or become a part."

Murmurs spread in approval and excitement. The girl next to Zelda practically whimpered for attention. "Yes, Ruto?" Ms. Nayru called on her. "When," Ruto asked, "and where do we audition and how fast would we know when we've been picked?" "If you want to try out for a part, there is a list of dates and roles outside Ms. Din's room," the teacher replied, "As to how long that will take, it will have to depend on how many people audition." Many people exclaimed eagerly. "I wonder how cute the boy role gets to be," a girl from the side giggled to one of her friends.

"With that aside," Ms. Nayru ushered the class, "Can we pass out the folders please? Yes, Ruto, you may, and you, Greg." Zelda watched Ruto as she passed out the folders with an air of indignant pride, nearly tossing one towards Zelda's face. Then she sat next to her with a cold, sideways glance and sat up straight. Zelda shook her head and sighed while she flipped through the pages of her music. She wasn't going to audition anyway, so whatever competition Ruto might feel she had wouldn't happen.

***

Sheik took his time to the music room for the past...half-hour. Each class was fifty minutes long, but the ten-minute break in between was just not long enough to browse around. He was now finally past the stairs and took the most strictly slow steps towards Ms. Nayru's room. The choir was singing and the piano was played gracefully by the teacher from inside the door. Sheik developed an excuse, though he didn't really need it with Ms. Nayru. So he decided to hang around for just ten more minutes right outside the door.

He whistled to himself lightly and glanced around, and saw a bright red head next to the window of the room across. Sheik stopped whistling and ducked immediately against the room out of sight. It was Malon, studying a textbook and a calculator as she slowly made her way across the room. He glanced up periodically to see her long, red hair shake while she walked. A grin split across his face as he slowly stood up and peeked over the window.

Malon's back was towards him, and he rapped the window. She stopped and looked around incredulously when she spied him. Sheik smiled impishly and waved, and her face wrinkled in a cute frown. She turned away, glancing back once to see if he had gone, then kept her way to a small group of students poring over a math problem. Sheik pulled away from the window and chuckled to himself. It was probably time to get into class before little Malon got mad and sic her professor on him.

He knocked on the door lightly, then shrugged and twisted it open. Ms. Nayru stopped playing and looked behind her. "Sheik," she said half expectedly, "I was wondering when you decided to come in." He raised his eyebrows in slight surprise and answered, "So I don't need to say my brilliant excuse, Ms. Nayru?" The teacher motioned for him to sit. "Not at all," she answered, "Enlighten us with your magnificent tale some other time, please."

"Cool, Miss 'N'," he gave her a thumbs up and winked at a group of girls. Most of them giggled while a few looked away with flushed faces. He smiled as he made his way to the second row, behind a familiar looking blonde. "Hey, Miss N," he said as he sat down and pointed at the girl, "There's some stranger here I don't know. What's up with that? I leave for less than forty minutes and some chick decides to take over. I thought we trusted each other!"

Several people laughed, including Ms. Nayru. The blonde turned around and faced him with a slight smile on her delicate features. "I'm Zelda," she said calmly, "You were in my science class, weren't you, Sheik?" That's right, the new girl. "Oh yeah," Sheik answered, "All right, then we're cool." She shook her head and smirked, then turned around. Sheik leaned back and placed his feet against Zelda's chair. She shifted uncomfortably as she sang, and he wiggled his toes from side to side.

After a while, Zelda turned to him and asked firmly, "Please take your feet off of my chair." Sheik placed a false look of shock. "Well, where else can I put 'em?" "Somewhere I can't smell them," she said hotly. A few people "ooh"ed and Ms. Nayru stated quickly, "Sheik, please sit in a proper posture and do not disturb Zelda." "Yeah, yeah," Sheik said lazily and slid his feet off the ground with a thump, "Just cause you said so and she's the new kid." 'With some nerve,' he thought to himself, 'Bitch ought to know who's who in this school.'

She'll need a proper lesson. And he'll see to it that Link gets into it, too.

***

After math with the stern Professor Darunia, Zelda was more than happy to leave for her next class with Malon. She waited in the hall for her, and caught sight of the red hair in the crowd. The red head saw Zelda and crossed the crowd in eagerness to reach her. "Hey!" she greeted her. "I'm so glad to see a bright face," Zelda said, "Mr. Darunia's was like a rock." Malon's eyes widened and exclaimed, "How dare you compare me to that hard thing!"

Zelda smiled and answered, "True, since his was so much less skimpy." Malon stuck her tongue out and they laughed while she led Zelda through the halls. She continued to show her other people, then stopped completely when she spotted a tall, pretty senior with a copper brown tan talking with a group of people. "Ooh!" she shouted happily as she took Zelda by the hand towards them. "Nabooru!"

The senior girl turned around, and Zelda could see that she wore tons of make up. Nabooru's face beamed in a wide smile and extended her arms out. "Mally! How's my girl?" Malon gave her a hug and led Zelda forward. "This is Zelda, she's new," she introduced, "Zelda, this is Nabooru. She's been my friend for ages, and she's like a sister to me." "Hey, Zelda!" Nabooru greeted heartwarmingly, "Are you interested in going in the student congress?"

"Not fair!" Malon retorted before Zelda could answer, "I wanted her to join cheerleading!" Nabooru played with Malon's hair. "Oh, alright," she said in a playful tone of disappointment, "But when she's brainwashed we're taking her." "Nabby!" Malon shrieked. Someone called Nabooru over, and she waved back at them. "See you guys later! And Zelda, nice to have you here!" "Bye, Nabby!" "Bye, Nabooru!"

Malon looked after her in admiration. "She's been my idol since I first met her," she said to Zelda. "She is really nice," Zelda said approvingly. "Yeah, well- ooh!" Malon started, "I've got to show you around and get us to class in less than five minutes!" Zelda followed Malon through the halls and met up beside her.

"History's gonna' be fun," Malon said to her, "Mr. Talon's always sleeping, and he never wakes up unless it's something important. But that happens like, every full moon or so." She smiled and pointed towards their left. "This is a shortcut, the faster we get there, the further seats we'll have from the board." "You don't pay attention during class?" Zelda asked. Malon tilted her head up in a skewed gaze. "Well, he's really not awake unless we really should be listening. So don't worry about it."

Zelda nodded and followed Malon's directing. Down the hall, there was a large group of boys. One of them was extremely tall, with a threatening pose and glance. They were lounging around in the middle of the hall, picking out a few individuals who seemed frightened. "Oh shit," Malon cursed and dragged Zelda down the other hallway, "Forget the shortcut. We'll have to take the long way through the crowd."

"What's wrong?" Zelda asked curiously. "That's Ganon and his gang," Malon answered with a tone of caution, "They're extremely popular and dangerous. You don't want to hang around them or Link's groupie." Zelda was about to ask Malon just who Link was, when a small group crossed between the two of them. "Excuse me," she said as she tried to push by them. Malon had vanished, and she looked for her red hair. Nothing, except moving bodies in the hallway, just which side did they come in from? Zelda found herself completely lost in the crowd as she tried desperately to find her way.

***

Link and the guys strolled unconcernedly through the nearly deserted hall. He spotted Ganon and his buddies, who stood and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he watched Link walk up to him. "You got something for us, fag?" said Ganon as he gnawed at a chewing gum. "Fuck you," Link answered, "Move." Ganon played around with the gum with his tongue, then spat it on the floor. "You wanna get to class," he said in a low voice, amber eyes flickering, "You better damn give us something. Either that or I paint this hall shit red with your fucking blood."

A crowd was forming around them, as everyone waited for what was going to occur. Link smiled and shook his hair, a gold earring from his left ear glittered. "I could kill you with just the number of girls I've fucked around with," he replied. Ganon's teeth spread in a grin. "You wanna come and try to fuck around after I'm done with you," he said.

Link barely dodged when Ganon's arm swung towards his cheek. The gathering crowd gasped, and the guys were all cheering them on. Link watched his moves closely, but even though Ganon was much stronger he was, Link had agility and a smaller form. He landed a punch against Ganon's side, which turned out to be rock hard with muscle. Ganon continued to punch while Link dodged or blocked with his fists.

One of Ganon's punches landed luckily on Link's shoulder, and a spasm of pain erupted throughout his entire arm. Another punch sent his head on a wild spin, and Link luckily missed the last punch and kicked Ganon's stomach hard from under. He continued to kick until Ganon finally backed off to catch his breath, and at that time Link shocked him with a blow to the face. The guys were rooting for them, and the crowd was joining in on the shouts.

At that moment, Link saw a flash of silver. Ganon was on him with a knife, and it was before long that he heard the yells of teachers and arms pulling him back. Professor Darunia's huge hands were tight around Ganon's arms to keep him from jumping towards Link with the knife. Students and teachers crowded around him, and pulled himself away from the teachers. Ganon finally escaped the grasp of Darunia and was looking at him fiercely through the red of his bloodied nose.

"Dude," Sheik's voice came from Link's side as he watched Ganon and his gang depart down the hall, "Let's go." The crowd dispersed, the teachers frustrated but unable to control anything, and Link and the guys left to the other hall. A strong sensation was left in his left arm, but other than that and a bruise on his face was all he suffered.

"Man, that was just so cool!" one of them exclaimed and slapped Link's arm, which responded painfully. "Hey back off, Brian," Sheik snapped, "Way cooler than anything you've fucked your life." Link smiled a bit at Sheik's defense. They made their way down the crowded hall when someone bumped into him. "Yo, watch it!" he shouted while it backed away. "I'm sorry," a soft voice replied, "but can you tell me how I can get to Professor Talon's history class?"

Link saw the shining blonde hair and the large blue-violet eyes, then recognized the girl. She was the one next to him during Science, the new girl. Zelda.something? "What do I look like, some tour guide?" he answered. A couple of others sniggered, and Zelda looked at them coolly. One of them joked, "Hey, I think she's lost. How many blondes does it take to find the end of the hall?" The group erupted in a loud raucous laughter. Link glanced at the girl through chuckles and saw that she did not display any discomfort.

"Probably a lot less than it takes for seven bastards to figure it out," she answered and turned. "Hey," one of the guys grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward. Zelda struggled to break from the grasp as he muttered in her face, "You wanna know why some little girls go to bed early at night? How 'bout we show ya?" Link frowned at the suggestion when Zelda bit into the guy's hand. "ARGH! FUCK! Bloody little BITCH!!"

She broke free and ran down the hall before anyone else could grab her. 'Smart little bitch,' Link thought to himself and smiled lightly. He stopped a few guys from running after her, while some others were looking at the impressive marks on the guy's bloodied hand. "Go get a nurse or something," he said irritatedly when the guy began to complain. The bell rang, and they exchanged "Laters" then split for class.

Link waited until they were all gone, then went down the hall towards the History wing.

***

"There you are!!" Malon screamed when Zelda entered the room, "I looked for you everywhere and I couldn't find you! Where the hell have you been? What's wrong with your hair?" Zelda reached up towards her long, silky hair and found that it was loose and in disarray. 'Shit,' she thought angrily, 'I lost my hair tier.' Malon didn't give her time to explain when she pulled her over to the back of the room. "Tell me later," she said and pulled a seat next to hers. The room was extremely noisy, and like Malon had said, Mr. Talon was snoozing comfortably in a lounge chair in the front of the room.

Malon tsked while she smoothed out Zelda's hair and surveyed her like a mother hen. "You looked like you've been harassed," she said in a worried tone. "You can tell?" Zelda murmured unhappily. Malon's eyes widened. "Holy shit," she answered in a low voice, "I was just kidding. Are you fucking serious?"

Zelda sighed and told her about the group of guys she ran into in the hall. Malon looked more and more like a frightened baby chick and ran a hand soothingly down her back. "By any chance," the red head asked, "Was one of those guys really tall with blond hair and blue eyes, and was he like, the boss or something?"

The description was so uncannily correct that Zelda stuttered, "Uh.do you- know him?" For the next fifteen minutes, Malon let out a stream of frustrated remarks. "I told you to avoid Ganon AND Link and his little pals! I leave you alone for ten minutes, and for one fucking moment I thought you could've been hurt, or even worse! That's it! I'm never leaving you out of my sight again! Not until you know just where you ought to go and who you just can't hang around with!"

For the rest of the class period, Malon had gone over the safe routes Zelda should take to her classes, and seemed to ease off a bit. "You have Art next," she recited from memory at the last minute of the bell, "and I won't see you until Gymn after that. Then we've got lunch, and oh! I have to let you try the chocolate mousse they're serving today!" She licked her lips at the thought. "Be there early. They are that good."

The bell rang, and Malon gave her a reassuring hug. "I'm sorry I was mad," she said, "but I was seriously freaked out. Don't do that to me ever again: don't ever hang around with those two groups." Zelda smiled at her friend's concern, then waved good bye as they went to separate ways. She only had to cross this hall and then turn right, as Malon told her.

Zelda shook her free, loose hair and let it tumble around her shoulders. She sighed at the loss of her hair tie. It was actually a jewel her mother had gotten for her and sewn it on a hair tie to keep it against her hair. Zelda didn't miss her mother so much, but when she was young she had known the woman to have truly loved her. There weren't many things for her to cling onto as for a family. This was one of the very few exceptions.

"Hey," a voice came from behind. She turned around and saw him, the boy Malon had been ranting on and off to avoid, the one with the startling blue eyes and a reckless grin. Without another moment, she hurried her steps to shake him off. "Yo, slow down a bit," the boy strode after her and tapped her shoulder lightly. When she wouldn't stop, he cut her off in the front with a sigh.

"Zelda, right?" he said. She looked at him unexpectedly. Where were those guys he hung around with? How come he's stopping her from getting to class? Link, that was his name, she finally figured. He stood in front of her in that black shirt and pants, his blond hair arranged more neatly that she had remembered it to be. His eyes seemed to scan over her, and she stood shifting uncomfortably.

"Whatever it is," she said coldly, "Just leave me alone and let me get to class." Link had a quizzical look on his face. Malon was right. Even though he was someone she ought to avoid, he is hot.

"Well then," he said and reached for something in his pocket, "Take this with you." Zelda's eyes gleamed as she saw her hair tie. She took it from his hand and saw that the jewel had not been damaged in any way.

"Thank-"

She looked up and saw him, halfway across the hall, with a girl under each arm as he possessed them with his charm. His face was in a flirtatious grin as he whispered something in one girl's ear and began to nibble at it. Not once did he look back at her.

Zelda shouldered her book bag and walked towards her Art room. Before she opened the door, she looked back at him. There was something different in the way he spoke to her compared to the tone he used with those girls. 'Whatever,' she brushed away the thought. She was going to stick with Malon's advice and avoid him. Even if he was really hot and quite thoughtful.



~Ack, I write too much. "Where's the love?!" Eep! *turns chibi and dodges scorching flames. These things take time, you can't just make them...uh, yeah ~_~ Next chapter has a bit more things to it, and if I can just get more reviews I'll see that there's a Chapter four as well. Sniff, pwomise me, pweese! Lol, ^_^